In her seminal collection of wisdom on classical ballet technique and pedagogy, Basic Principles of Classical Ballet: Russian Ballet Technique of Agrippina Vaganova, she states: “The first condition of good tours is an absolutely straight, held-together body. One should not lose the spot of the finish, and should always ‘feel’ the front so as not […]
Looking at the news today can make me feel like the world is in a downward spiral. Sometimes our individual lives feel this way as well. And maybe we’d like for things to take a turn for the better, and just continue along a linear path towards perfection. Well, life seems to follow a more […]
Dance theorists identify 7 basic movements of ballet or classical dance technique, and we can see these essential building blocks at play in every ballet pas, step, or movement. I’m excited to announce that around these 7 essentials, I’ve designed a free summer dance challenge to begin or continue your ballet journey, and you […]
Building Blocks of Dance Welcome to the latest installment of my series on the “Seven Basic Movements” of ballet and classical dancing. Thus far, I have explored Plier/to bend, Sauter/to jump, Glisser/to glide, and Élancer/to dart in blog articles, videos, and podcasts, and created a Playlist on YouTube about the 7 Movements to support learning […]
Do you feel a strong sense of personal direction, clarity about your purpose in life, and confidence that you are making the right moves to get there? The A Blythe Coach Dance Through Any Difficulty Framework of Grounding, Centering, Orienting, Creating, Relating is woven into all of my coaching and teaching work and it helps […]
Everyone deserves a break to rest and restore, and you can take one anytime, anywhere with an internet connection, and establish a self-care habit with this complementary yoga series! Announcing my FREE 5-Day Virtual Yogalicious ReTREAT! Yoga ReTREAT Invitation Video You are invited on a yogic getaway… I’m dropping in today to invite you to […]
I had long heard that “Plié is the first thing you learn and the last thing you master,” but had to look up who said it and adultballerinaproject.com says it was Suzanne Farrell, a famous ballerina whom I admired as a young dance student.
It’s one of the most amazing things to me that in ballet, as with other highly-sophisticated techniques, you can continue to learn new things about technique and artistry your whole life. The training never ends, no matter how “advanced” or masterful you become.
So it is with Plié. On the one hand, it’s just one of many steps a ballet dancer must learn, but it is also integral to modern dance and mastery of movement in general. All athletes could benefit from a little Plié in their lives.
Centering and integrating generates power for movement and taking effective action from the core of your being, your core values and beliefs, and your deepest and most efficient muscle groups providing a strong and effective powerhouse.
I love to “shake it out” after the focused effort of dance movements and yoga poses. This way we can release excess tension that may build up during exercises. There are psychological and spiritual benefits of letting go as well, and I share a variety of techniques in this article.
Haiku #99 of 2021 by Blythe C. Stephens (inspired by Emerson) Poet as sayerrecognize experience,beauty, report back My Passion for Poetry I love poetry! I enjoy reading it, writing it, sharing it, using it for teaching and inspiring choreography. What do you use poetry for? Who are your favorite authors? Ever since I was a […]
